India, China should together explore energy potential: Daily

Beijing, Nov 6 (IANS) India should seek mutual benefits with China in current oil and gas exploration in Central Asia, rather than attempting to challenge the more 'experienced power' in this region, according to a leading Chinese daily.

In an article Tuesday, the Global Times said India began exploring the energy potential of the region later than China and that it can hardly enter the field as an independent investor.

"Due to its geopolitical disadvantages and the current oil and gas exploration in Central Asia, India can hardly enter this field as an independent investor. A wise choice would be to cooperate with the West, Russia or China.

"Judging from energy policies in both China and India, New Delhi should seek mutual benefits with China, rather than attempting to challenge the more experienced power in this region," said the article, written by Liu Qian, an assistant research fellow at the Academy of Chinese Energy Strategy with the China University of Petroleum, Beijing.

According to the article, the Central Asia region is rich in oil and gas and both India and China have began to compete in the region.

"Central Asia is rich in oil and gas. China and India, with growing energy consumption, both need to participate in the region's energy exploration. As a result, the two have begun to compete in the region," it said.

"India began exploring the energy potential of the region even later than China. While there are some efforts at cooperation, India barely has any ­presence at the moment.

"But some aggressive Indian media outlets believe India can directly challenge China in the region, basing this claim on a potential 8.4 percent Indian stake in Kashagan, a Kazakh oil company, and the recent plans for two pipelines from Turkmenistan to China and India," it added.

The article said China has gradually gained momentum in energy cooperation with Central Asia and has made impressive progress.

"As for the competition between the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline, it does exist, but not in the tense contradiction that the Indian media portrays.

"Currently, the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline has a stable supply and has been expanded. By contrast, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline is still in its initial stage, and the biggest threats come from the Afghan situation and India-Pakistan relations. India needs to deal with both issues cautiously which is a huge task," it said.

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